Clarifying shrimp fishery regulations with two bills in the MD General Assembly

MARYLAND – In the Maryland General Assembly,  some lawmakers are making changes to a bill for shrimp fishery regulations.

Delegate Charles Otto told us last year lawmakers established a shrimp fishery and pilot program for Maryland regulated by the Department of Natural Resources.

They will be able to establish things like distances, limited areas shrimp can be caught, and setting catch limits. But, Delegate Otto said during this session clarifications are being made to the law.

“Sort of things that we missed in our original bill, it limited I guess some of the authority the department had to make scientific and management decisions so this should give them the flexibility to make that happen,” Delegate Otto said.

Delegate Otto said he’s happy for this bill to be on the table because it might give people who work on the water an alternative option on what they can catch, which in turn could be meaningful for small businesses.